Page 47 of Worth the Wait

I shrugged. “Not really.”

“Do you want to forget it all or just numb the pain a little?” She leaned toward us, putting her palms on top of the bar for balance.

“Forget it all,” Matthew answered for me at the same time that I responded with, “Just numb the pain.”

Bella shook her head. “I wasn’t asking you.” She pointed a finger at Matthew, and he pretended like she’d wounded him, clutching a hand to his chest as he leaned back.

“Trust me, I noticed,” he said, but she simply rolled her eyes like he annoyed her.

“No one asks you to come here every day,” she snapped at my little brother, and he made a huffing sound, like her opinion wasn’t what mattered.

“I only come here when you’re working,” he said, like that should have changed everything. “So, it’s not every day.”

“I’m aware. No one asked you to do that either.”

“I like to be around you,” he said so honestly that it made me laugh.

“I don’t know why.” Bella turned her back to us and grabbed something from the shelf.

We both watched her pour the amber liquid into two separate glasses before handing one to each of us. “Sip it. Don’t shoot it,” she instructed.

I did as she’d asked.

Matthew downed the whole thing in one gulp, and I laughed again as he tried to stop himself from wincing.

“Why don’t you ever listen?” she chastised, and he gave her his signature smirk that made most women melt.

“What’s the fun in that?” was his stupid response.

She walked away and toward the opposite end of the bar, where she started washing glasses.

“I don’t think she likes you very much,” I said, trying to get his attention away from Bella and back on me.

His blue eyes widened. “Girl’s been in love with me since she was fourteen years old.”

“Well, she’s not a teenager anymore.”

“No shit.”

“What’s the deal with the two of you anyway?” It was nice to not think about Addi for all of ten seconds while I focused on Matthew instead.

“No deal. She always acts like she’s mad at me, but I don’t know why.”

“’Cause you’re an idiot?”

He shoved at my shoulder, almost making me fall off the stool, and before I could shove him back, the bar door swung open, and my body instantly stiffened. I sensed her presence without even having to turn around and acknowledge it. Matthew had been right when he teased me about my dick being on hiatus those few months back. Someone had definitely pressed the pause button on the big guy in my pants, but he was on full alert now, waking up at the mere thought of my girl, begging to be let loose so he could run free and right to her.

“Damn,” Matthew said low and under his breath.

I finally turned around to see Addison and her sister, Sarina, waltzing into the saloon and grabbing the attention of every single male—and female—in the place.

“That her little sister?” Matthew asked, and I watched him scan the length of her way-too-underdressed body.

I smacked him. “Don’t even think about it,” I warned.

He let out a laugh that told me he’d do exactly that—and probably more if Sarina let him.

When I glanced down the bar toward Bella at the other end, I noticed her watching Matthew with what looked like hurt in her eyes. All the pieces fell into place in that moment. Bella knew Matthew’s reputation. She’d probably seen him in action more times than she wanted to. He was a player. A womanizer. The kind of guy who slept around without any strings attached. And Bella wanted all the strings.

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